Blastomycosis in NW Ont.

A recent MacLean’s Magazine article on a 13-year-old Minaki boy who
has blastomycosis has raised some questions about the rare disease.
Northwestern Health Unit Spokesperson Lyle Wiebe says blasto is from a
fungus that thrives in soil.
Wiebe says its spores, when inhaled, can produce an infection that can
kill the victim if not treated.
Blasto can take 45 to 120 days to grow in a person’s body.
Wiebe says symptoms include tightness in the chest and legions on the
skin that don’t heal.
Wiebe says the public shouldn’t worry because the disease is uncommon.